Chief of Staff - GM Track

Poly-Tek; San Leandro (CA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Poly-Tek, a family-owned manufacturer founded in 1963, seeks a Chief of Staff to work with the COO, CEO, and leadership to own high-impact initiatives across the organization, from profitability analysis to factory-floor improvements.

Based in the Bay Area with on-site expectations at our San Leandro and Vacaville operations, the role offers exposure to strategy, operations, and growth initiatives, with potential path toward general management as the group expands.

Qualifications

• MBA preferred or equivalent analytical experience.
• Experience in operations, small businesses, engineering, or private equity portfolio ops.
• Excellent communication and ability to turn analysis into results.

Responsibilities

• Own high-impact initiatives with CEO/COO across the organization.
• Analyze profitability and drive improvements from the plant floor to enterprise level.
• Lead cross-functional execution and establish repeatable operating systems.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Influence without authority

Data modeling

AI tools

Education

MBA preferred

Job description

A family business founded in 1963, Poly-Tek has quadrupled in size over the last seven years into a 200+ employee manufacturer of custom-engineered products, with two operating companies and ambitious plans to grow both organically and through acquisition. We operate on a permanent time horizon, investing in our people, capabilities, and companies with the goal of building an enduring American manufacturing group.

Role Overview

The Chief of Staff works directly with the COO, CEO, and broader leadership team to own and execute high-impact initiatives across the organization. You will regularly context-switch between enterprise-level and plant-level priorities, from analyzing segment profitability and acquisition opportunities to driving improvements on the factory floor. This is an operating role for someone who wants to learn how to run a business by helping run one, with a path toward a GM role or group-level leadership as the group expands.

The position is based in the Bay Area with daily on-site expectations across our manufacturing operations in San Leandro and Vacaville.

Responsibilities

• Enterprise Value Creation: Work directly with the CEO and COO on the highest-stakes priorities shaping our growth and profitability (e.g. build a contribution-margin-per-machine-hour view of the business to identify underpriced work, recommend repricing or product exits, and drive implementation of the decisions)
• Cross-Functional Execution: Own workstreams across operations, finance, sales, and other functions, moving priorities from analysis to implementation (e.g. rework sales pipeline management to provide accurate visibility of forecasted demand to drive operational capacity planning decisions, then drive implementation alongside the COO and operating teams)
• Plant-Level Problem Solving: Structure ambiguous problems through data analysis, practical experimentation, and hands-on execution (e.g. identify and develop an operational cost-savings project such as a high-dollar scrap or labor-reduction opportunity, quantify the business case, and work with engineering and production to implement a solution and verify results)
• Repeatable Systems: Partner with the COO to build the repeatable operating system at the core of our companies: a consistent scorecard, operating rhythms, and a library of tools and processes that our current businesses and future acquisitions can adopt (e.g. develop the first-90-day plan for bringing a newly acquired business onto our operating system)

Qualifications

• Experience: 4-8 years of work experience, with demonstrated ownership of results. MBA preferred or equivalent analytical experience. Backgrounds in operations, small businesses, engineering, or private equity portfolio ops preferred
• Skills: Able to communicate clearly, influence without authority, and turn ideas and analysis into results. Able to build models with and without AI tools. Strong command of AI tools.
• Attributes: Curious, low ego, execution-focused. Comfortable with ambiguity, limited resources, and competing priorities.
• Other: This is not a desk job. You will need to be comfortable rolling up your sleeves and building things from the ground up with little guidance. We prefer someone seeking true responsibility for tangible outcomes, with a sense of urgency and a long-term view.